ALLEGIANCE (Fr. allegeance, from Lat. alligo or ad-ligo, to bind to, or attach), "A." says Blackstone, "is the tie or ligamcn which hinds the subject to the sovereign, in re turn for that protection which the sovereign affords the subject. A. is the highest legal duty of the subject, and consequently its violation, Treason (q.v.), is the highest legal offense. A. is of three kinds : 1. _Natural or implied A., which every native or natural ized citizen owes to the community to which he belongs. Independently of any express promise, every man, by availing himself of the benefits which society affords, comes under an implied obligation to defend it, and this equally whether the attack be from without or from within. In time of war, this obligation involves the duty either of bearing arms in defense of the state, or of contributing to the additional taxes and other impositions which the support of a standing army may render necessary. In peaceful times it will be adequately fulfilled by an efficient performance of ordinary citizen duties. 2. Erpress A. is that which arises from an expressed promise, or oath of A. The old English oath of A. corresponded in the case of the sovereign, as absolute superior of all the lands in England, to the oath of fealty which, .by the feudal law, all vassals were required to take to subject superiors : "As administered for upwards of 600 years, it contained a promise to be true and faithful to the king and his heirs, and truth and faith to bear of life and limb and terrene honor, and not to know or hear of any ill or damage intended him, without defending him therefrom."—Blackstone, Kerr's edition, vol. i. 368. This oath being thought to favor too much the notion of non resistance, another form was introduced by the convention parliament. That in use since the passing of the new naturalization act in 1870 (33 Viet. c. 14), is as follows : " I do swear that I will be faithful and bear true A. to her majesty queen Victoria, her heirs and successors, according to law. So help me God." From the reign of queen Eliza beth down to the present time, the oath of A. has been required from all public func tionaries, before entering on their offices, and by all professional persons before being permitted to practice. 3. Local or temporary A. is that obedience and temporary aid due
by an alien (q.v.) to the state or community to which he resides. Local differs from the higher kinds of A. in this, that it endures only so long as the alien resides within the queen's dominions, whereas natural A., whether implied or expressed, is perpetual, following not only the individual himself, but his children and grandchildren. By the provisions of the act abovo referred to, A. may now be renoiuiced, even by natural-born subjects, and this. whether born within the realm or not, by a declaration of alienage (sec. 4), and it is forfeited by the acceptance of the A. of a foreign state (sec. 6). But the A. thus forfeited may be resumed. A natural-born British subject who has become an alien in pursuance of this act, may, on performing the same conditions as are required of an alien applying for a certificate of nationality (see NteruitALtztormx)„apply to one of her majesty's principal secretaries of state for a certificate of readmission to British nationality (sec. 8). In a colony, the like powers are conferred on the governor.
By the law of England, and agreeably to the spirit of the constitution, a usurper in undisputed possession of the crown, or king de facto, is entitled to A., because he then represent4, not the sovereign whom he has dispossessed, but the general will in which the ultimate sovereignty of England resides. This doctrine was applied when Edward IV. recovered the crown from the house of Lancaster, and treasons committed against Henry VI. were capitally punished. The sovereign may by proclamation summon his subjects to return and take part in the defense of the kingdom, when menaced or endan gered. Of this, an instance occurred in 1807, when all seamen and seafaring men who were natural-born subjects were recalled from foreign service. The option of accepting the foreign A. would now be given them, and the same legal outlet is furnished from the provisions of the otherwise unenforceable foreign enlistment act (q.v.).